***Official*** West Indies tour of Australia, Jan–Feb 2024

[social]

The big one for me was when Clarke spat the dummy after the selectors picked Maxi ahead of his mate Phil Hughes (RIP) and he turned around & sacrificed him at 3 out of spite

That was truly pathetic

 

[Burgey]

With Finch he'd scored all his runs at 5 and with Renshaw having showed some promise and Khawaja's tons opening against SA it was staggering they chose to discard Renshaw and play Finch completely out of position, and then after his ton opening in the UAE dropped Khawaja back to three and had Finch and Harris opening against India. It was a big missed chance by Langer to make the best of a bad situation.

Yeah I actually would have backed finch to make a few down the order. Was way out of his depth opening

 

[Burgey]

Re: this Lawry one, he was sacked as captain and opener two Tests after this.

If he tours England in 72, even not as captain, Aus very likely wins that series

 

[mr_mister]

The big one for me was when Clarke spat the dummy after the selectors picked Maxi ahead of his mate Phil Hughes (RIP) and he turned around & sacrificed him at 3 out of spite

That was truly pathetic

Never knew that was the reason.

 

[Burgey]

Hopes and Hastings too.

Henriques as a norounder as well.

 

[Spark]

The big one for me was when Clarke spat the dummy after the selectors picked Maxi ahead of his mate Phil Hughes (RIP) and he turned around & sacrificed him at 3 out of spite

That was truly pathetic

Wait really? I had forgotten/didn't hear about this

 

[Starfighter]

If he tours England in 72, even not as captain, Aus very likely wins that series

Yup. He painted it in one of those documentaries as retribution for reporting the players' complaints about the India and SA tours and poor pay etc. It was insane to drop him (at 34, when he may have had several years left) as a player. We didn't find a new opener of comparable quality until Boon.

 

[Spikey]

Doolan was 3 in the first test and they dropped him and Maxwell came in. Straight swap. Watson was the incumbent 3 but was away on injury. it's absurd because Smith was at 5 but Smith didn't move from 5 until Clarke's injury in the India series saw Smith move up. I think they saw it as not wanting Smith into Watson's spot and letting him continue at 5 instead of just playing the game on it's merits.

I don't think hughes had anything to do with it.

 

[social]

Wait really? I had forgotten/didn't hear about this

In the UAE v Pakistan

Played a bad shot in the 2nd innings and wasn’t picked again for 4 years

 

[Spikey]

as we've discussed before, we could do a whole thing about Maxwell not getting any shots in Australia and then being forced into terribly organised teams in SE asia

 

[Aidan11]

The big one for me was when Clarke spat the dummy after the selectors picked Maxi ahead of his mate Phil Hughes (RIP) and he turned around & sacrificed him at 3 out of spite

That was truly pathetic

Wow that's top s**thousery if true.

 

[TheJediBrah]

The big one for me was when Clarke spat the dummy after the selectors picked Maxi ahead of his mate Phil Hughes (RIP) and he turned around & sacrificed him at 3 out of spite

That was truly pathetic

Sacrificed at 3? Those wickets in the UAE were puddings, 3 was probably the best place to bat. It's not like he was sent there on an English greentop

And this is coming from a huge Maxwell fan

 

[Gnske]

I mean he got told to train smarter, how much more simple did Maxi need it?

 

[Socerer 01]

Wow that's top s**thousery if true.

Maxwell’s test career is a tale of being the victim of such shithousery

 

[Starfighter]

It really exemplifies the sort of selection philosophy that I have become implacably opposed to these days though (which is why I really never want to see either Bancroft or Harris again) - the prioritisation of short term FC statistics shorn of context or like, watching any of the cricket involved

I think there's a happy medium. The eye test doesn't always work, and I think you're over egging the point with Bancroft and Harris. They literally are the best openers going around the Shield at the moment. Everyone else - including their teammates who share the same conditions - is worse.

Compare these non-test averages:
Harris: 41.08
Bancroft: 40.01
Renshaw: 40.67

To these in the eighties:
Dyson: 43.76
Wood: 43.76
Marsh: 42.01
Ritchie: 46.59

And think about how grim things were in the eighties (though admittedly the West Indies fast bowling attack was about). Those four played 30, 59, 50 and 30 tests respectively. It shows just how bad the situation at the moment is. I know you will say we should take a punt on someone like we more or less did on Marnus, but is there any opener that you think would do better? I don't want to see Bancroft and Harris again either. We just had a lengthy thread on successful middle order conversions. I know Smith may not be the best candidate considering his current form, but it makes as much sense as an of the other options. The cupboard really is completely bare.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Maxwell being black listed and treated like **** by the selectors and Clarke/Smith as captains is definitely true though. Smith even refused to bowl Maxwell in ODIs for a while when he took over as captain

 

[social]

Sacrificed at 3? Those wickets in the UAE were puddings, 3 was probably the best place to bat. It's not like he was sent there on an English greentop

And this is coming from a huge Maxwell fan

Australia was slaughtered in that game and he carried the can for it

 

[Calm_profit]

Now I just wanted Warner to publish his book.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Australia was slaughtered in that game and he carried the can for it

Yes but it had nothing to do with batting at 3

 

[Gnske]

Now I just wanted Warner to publish his book.

His ghostwriter has hired a syllable consultant allegedly